Text Project Part 4

Joining the EU would be disadvantageous for Switzerland in many ways.

by Birgit Spalt, Bianca Stadler, Christine Hartinger

FINAL VERSION:

Experts from various fields argue that joining the EU would be disadvantageous for Switzerland in many ways. This issue has been discussed frequently within the country and throughout Europe. Considering all the problems the European Union has to face at the moment, it seems obvious that an economy as strong as Switzerland’s would only suffer from a membership. Switzerland would have to share its capital, it would have to support the weak economies in Europe financially and it would have less capital for its own needs. Thus most specialists agree that Switzerland would lose a considerable proportion of its wealth and its international status as a safe haven for investors should it ever join the EU. In addition to this, Switzerland would lose its system of direct democracy. Of course the EU would be pleased if Switzerland became a member as the Union would benefit from the country’s membership in many ways. The Swiss are aware of the many different ways in which Switzerland would suffer from this membership and therefore have repeatedly voted against joining the EU.

Despite the fact that Switzerland is such a small country surrounded by countries much richer in resources such as Italy, France and Germany, it is the wealthiest state in the world. According to the findings of a new study by Credit Suisse, the average per capita income amounts to $513,000. This “Swiss miracle” has mostly historical and political origins. Switzerland’s much-praised neutrality spared its citizens the suffering and costs of World War I and World War II. Instead of feeling threatened by its larger neighboring countries, Switzerland has always known how to take advantage of their economic powers. While Germany is its most important trading partner, the Swiss also maintain successful trade relations with the EU. Among their economic achievements are the Free Trade Agreement of 1972 and two Bilateral Agreements, one in 1999 and the other in 2004. One reason for Switzerland’s staggering wealth also lies in the number of highly qualified immigrants drawn to the country’s stable economy ever since the Reformation.

By virtue of the positive relations between Switzerland and the EU, the former already benefits from the latter without being a member. An example of these benefits is the free movement of people, goods, services and capital due to the Schengen treaty. Despite all these treaties, Switzerland is able to guard its sovereignty and liberty, which it would lose if it joined the EU. The act of becoming an EU member is almost impossible to revoke, whereas contracts and treaties can be terminated more easily. One major argument against a membership is that, as a member state, Switzerland would have to implement the laws, regulations and decisions made in Brussels. This would eventually lead to the end of the Swiss’ system of direct democracy that currently ensures that citizens are involved in the decision-making process. Politicians cannot make any major decision without citizens’ approval via referendum. This is a crucial factor which establishes and secures solidarity within the various cultures, religions and languages existing in Switzerland. If the Swiss were deprived of this direct democracy, it would only be a matter of time before frustration would be expressed. This system, combined with financial federalism, also has an impact on the country’s economy, since the decisions concerning taxes and public expenditure are under the citizens’ control. Therefore, membership would lead to a weaker economy. Another issue that would harm the wealth of the country is that it would have to help to rescue countries facing an economic crisis, such as Greece and Italy. As long as Switzerland can benefit from the EU without participating in the Union, there is no need for the country to seek membership.

It is clear, considering all these arguments, that joining the EU would have mostly negative effects on Switzerland. The country itself would lose its independence and its high esteem on an international basis, while its citizens would lose their rights in the decision-making process. This would lead to their wishes being ignored by the government just as in many other countries. To aggravate the situation, a considerable amount of Swiss capital would be allocated to bankrupt countries such as Greece, Italy or Spain. This money could no longer be used to meet Switzerland’s own needs and would be lacking in the social system. Clearly, it is more profitable for the economy, as well as for the citizens, if Switzerland remains an independent trading partner of the EU instead of becoming a member state.


[751 words]

Second Version:

Experts from various fields argue that joining the EU would be disadvantageous for Switzerland in many ways. This issue has continually been discussed within the country and all over Europe. Considering all the problems the European Union has to face at the moment it seems obvious that an economy as strong as Switzerland’s would only suffer from a membership. Switzerland would have to share its capital, it would have to support all the weak economies in Europe financially and it would have less capital for its own needs. Thus most specialists agree that Switzerland would lose its wealth and its international status as a safe haven for investors should it ever join the EU. In addition to this, Switzerland would lose its system of direct democracy. Of course the EU itself would appreciate it if Switzerland became a member as the Union would benefit from the country’s participation in many ways. The Swiss are well aware of the many different ways in which Switzerland would detract from this membership and therefore repeatedly voted against joining the EU.

Despite the fact that Switzerland is such a small country surrounded by countries much richer in resources such as Italy, France and Germany, Switzerland is the wealthiest state in the world. According to the findings of a new study by Credit Suisse, the average per capita income amounts to $513,000. The “Swiss miracle” has mostly historical and political reasons. Switzerland’s much-praised neutrality has spared its citizens the suffering from World War I and World War II. Therefore, they were also exempt from reconstruction costs and huge reparation payments. Instead of feeling threatened by its larger neighboring countries, Switzerland has always known how to take advantage of their economic powers. Although Germany is its most important trading partner, the Swiss also maintain successful trade relations with the EU. They are able to count the Free Trade Agreement of 1972 and two Bilateral Agreements, one in 1999 and the other in 2004, to their economic achievements. Another reason for Switzerland’s staggering wealth lies in the number of highly qualified immigrants feeling drawn to the country’s stable economy ever since the Reformation.

By virtue of the numerous treaties with the EU and the advantages deriving from these agreements, Switzerland is not in need of becoming a member state of the European Union. An example of these benefits is the free movement of people, goods, services and capital due to the Schengen treaty. Additionally, despite all these treaties, the Alpine country is able to guard its sovereignty and liberty which it would lose in case of an EU membership. It is evident that the act of becoming an EU member is almost impossible to revoke, whereas contracts and treaties can be terminated more easily. One major argument against a membership is that, as a member state, Switzerland would have to implement the laws, regulations and decisions made in Brussels. This would eventually lead to the end of the Swiss’ system of direct democracy that currently ensures involving the citizens in the decision-making process. The politicians can not make any major decision without the citizens’ approval via referendum. This is a crucial factor which establishes and secures solidarity within the various cultures, religions and languages existing in Switzerland. If the Swiss were deprived of this direct democracy due to an EU membership, it would only be a matter of time before frustration and anger would occur. Further, this system combined with the financial federalism also has an impact on the country’s economy. Since the Swiss voted in favor of high taxes, an internal tax competition is generated that keeps all taxes under the citizens’ control and limits public expenditure. Therefore, a membership would lead to a weaker economy. Another issue that would harm the wealth of the country is that it would have to participate in rescuing countries that face an economic crisis such as Greece and Italy. As long as the Switzerland can benefit from the EU without participating in the Union, there is no need for the Alpine country to seek membership.

It is clear, considering all these arguments, that joining the EU would have merely negative effects on the Alpine country. The country itself would lose its independency and its high esteem on an international basis, while its citizens would be deprived of their competences in the decision-making process. This would lead to their wishes being ignored by the government just as in many other countries. To aggravate things, a considerable amount of Swiss capital would be allocated to bankrupt countries such as Greece, Italy or Spain. This money could no longer be used to meet Switzerland’s own needs and would be missing in the social system. Clearly, it is more profitable for the economy, just as for the citizens, if Switzerland remains an independent trading partner of the EU instead of becoming a member state.

[811 words]

First Version:

The issue of whether or not Switzerland should join the EU has been discussed all over Europe for a very long time. This essay will discuss why joining the EU would be disadvantageous for Switzerland. Considering all the problems the European Union has to face at the moment it seems obvious that an economy as strong as Switzerland would only suffer from a membership. Switzerland would have to share its wealth, it would have to support all the weak economies in Europe financially and it would have less for its own needs. Thus most specialists agree that Switzerland would lose its wealth and its global status should it ever join the EU. In addition to this, Switzerland would also lose its system of direct democracy. Of course the EU itself would be delighted if Switzerland became a member as it would benefit from Switzerland’s participation in many ways. This paper will present the many different ways in which Switzerland would detract from this membership.

Despite the fact that Switzerland is such a small country surrounded by countries much richer in resources such as Italy, France and Germany, Switzerland is once again the wealthiest state in the world. According to the findings of a new study by Credit Suisse, the average per capita income amounts to $513,000. The “Swiss miracle” has mostly historical and political reasons. Switzerland’s much-praised neutrality has spared its citizens the suffering of World War I and World War II. Therefore, they were also exempt from reconstruction costs and huge reparation payments, in the way for example Austria had to. Instead of feeling threatened by its big neighbor countries, Switzerland has always known how to take advantage of their economic powers. While Germany for instance is not only its most important trading partner, the Swiss also maintain successful trade relations with the EU, being able to cite the Free Trade Agreement of 1972 and two Bilateral Agreements, one in 1999 and the other in 2004, to their economic achievements. Another reason for Switzerland’s staggering wealth lies in the number of highly qualified immigrants feeling drawn to the country’s stable economy ever since the Reformation.

Although the economic crisis also affected Switzerland, the country suffered less than most of the EU countries. The Swiss are not in need of becoming an EU member state since there are many advantages deriving from the numerous treaties and contracts between Switzerland and the EU such as the free movement of people, goods, services and capital. Additionally, despite all these treaties, the Alpine country is able to guard its sovereignty and liberty which it would lose in case of an EU membership. It is evident that the act of becoming an EU member is hard to revoke, whereas contracts and treaties can be more easily terminated. One major argument against a membership is that it would lead to a weaker economy, as Switzerland would have to participate in rescuing countries that face an economic crisis such as Greece and Italy. As a member state it would also have to implement the regulations and decisions of the EU as well as accept most of the decisions made in Brussels. It is evident that this would eventually lead to the end of the Swiss’ system of direct democracy. This system currently ensures democracy by involving the Swiss in the decision making concerning laws, constitutional proposals and international treaties. The Alpine country’s politicians have also always valued the public opinion, something the Swiss really appreciate. They are even in favor of high taxes: Direct democracy and financial federalism lead to internal tax competition – which, in turn, keeps all taxes under the citizens’ control and consequently limits public expenditure.Almost no major decision can be made by any politician without the citizens deciding via referendum. This is one essential factor that is needed to establish solidarity within the different cultures, religions and languages existing in Switzerland. If the Swiss were deprived of this direct democracy due to an EU membership, it would only be a matter of time before frustration and anger within the citizens would occur.

It is clear, considering all these arguments, that joining the EU would have merely negative effects on the Alpine country. In addition to losing its independency and its high esteem on an international basis, its inhabitants would soon grow unhappy as they would lose a great deal of their competences in the decision-making process. This would lead to their wishes being ignored by the government just as in many other countries. To make things worse, a considerable amount of Swiss capital would be awarded to bankrupt countries such as Greece, Italy or Spain. This money could no longer be used to meet Switzerland’s own needs and would be missing in the social system. As you can see, there are barely any advantages for Switzerland if it was to join the EU. The economy, just as the citizens, is more fortunate on its own.

[822 words]

Feedback:

1. too much information in the introduction
   We actually thought that all the information is relevant and therefore did not make many changes. 
2. very good register
   Thank you! :)
3. sometimes redundand (word repition,...)
   We realised that ourselves and tried to avoid repetition.
4. 3rd paragraph -> topic sentence didn't fit
   We totally agreed and changed it.
5. not enough arguments in the 3rd paragraph
6. 2nd paragraph too long and detailed
   We transferred one part of the 2nd paragraph to the third one.

Topic/Concluding sentence:

We tried to focus on good topic and concluding sentences and made sure that they are well-linked. 

Paper Progress!

Well, when it comes to my paper progress I have to admit that I have not been that productive so far. This is simply due to the fact that I don't have any time. We have so much homework to do and we have to study for exams and we have to work on our numerous projects and -  unbelievable, but I still want to maintain at least a tiny little bit of social life as well. As you might know, this makes everything a little hard.
However, I did manage to get these few things done:
I did find many sources. Mainly it's newspaper articles so I still have to keep looking, but I think it's a good start and I will keep looking for at least a few more really reliable sources.
I do have at least a first version of my introduction. I don't think it's the worst even though there is still something missing. I wanted to mention the letters of the law in there, but I didn't have the time so far to really look for those, because even though I did find a reliable source for this, I just couldn't find it so far. I also handed it in to Hendrik last week, so I'm really curious about his corrections and his feedback.
Also, I do have an elevator pitch which I actually like. :) I will post it here so you can enjoy it too.

Hey...have you ever heard about the Irish Abortion Law?

This law forbids women to have an abortion unless there is a health risk for them, isn’t that outrageous? This clearly violates Human Rights, don’t you think? Everybody, every woman should have the right to do with their body whatever they like. 

And you know what? This is not only important in terms of women’s rights, it affects men as well. What if someone wants to immigrate to Ireland or needs to live there for a few years because of their job? People have to know about this! An accident can always happen, even if you use protection. You should really, really read my paper in order to learn something about the law and what the EU does about it.

As Hendrik asked us to do I also tried to transfer it into a version that I could actually use in my paper, so here it is:

Have you ever heard about the Irish Abortion Law?

This law forbids women to have an abortion unless the pregnancy causes a significant health risk for them. In my opinion this is rather shocking. This restriction conflicts with Human Rights as everybody should have the right to do with their body whatever they wish.

The law is not only important in terms of women’s rights, it affects men as well. What if someone wants to immigrate to Ireland or needs to live there for a longer period of time due to their work? It is necessary to inform people about the legal situation in Ireland as it is possible at all times that an accident happens, even if you use protection. I strongly recommend reading my paper in order to learn something about the law and also, what the EU does about it.

Well, after I got my corrected version of the introduction back I will post it here too, but until then this will have to be enough. ;)

I will conclude this post with a promise: I will work on my paper during the christmas holidays. There are two reasons for that: 

Firstly, I want to get it done and this will be a good time -  it means barely any recreation, however...

Secondly, when else would I do it? It's not as if we had a lot of free time left after christmas break, do we?

Okay, I finally revised my introduction:

In this paper I will try to find an answer to the following question: “Does the Irish Abortion Law violate the EU Human Rights Laws?”. This is a particularly interesting topic because of its controversy. The Irish Abortion Law affects many people’s lives, and even though many of us are not personally affected by it, it still is a topic of major concern. 

In the course of this paper I will present the law itself, how it changed in 2013, and explain in which ways it influences women in Ireland. In addition to that, different arguments people put forward when talking about the law will be introduced. These differ considerably as they will be from Human Rights activists, the Catholic Church and politicians. The next step of this paper seeks to investigate whether, and if yes in what ways, the Irish Abortion Law contradicts EU Human Rights Laws. In the last step the actions the EU could take in order to change the situation in Ireland will be examined and juxtaposed to those the EU is actually taking.

Should anyone be interested, here's the link to my Google Doc with everything I'm using for/in my paper and the actual text.

Revisison of my Eurozone Crisis summary!

Original Version:

Europe already has one foot in “Japanese” deflation grave:

This article, published in The Telegraph by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, is about the European debt crisis. He presents its risks, the policy errors made by all governments and explains how close Europe already is to the dangerous deflation trap.

The author emphasises that Europe is on the edge of deflation. Most countries experience debt rise which will finally lead to deflation. Once a country, or in our case the Eurozone countries, reaches deflation it is incredibly hard for them to escape from it. This is proven by the example of Japan, a country struggling for years to reach and maintain a healthy inflation rate. In order to prevent deflation, however, the European governments would need to take on even more unpopular policies and therefore they prefer doing nothing. According to the author they will wait until the Eurozone crisis even hits the wealthier countries very hard instead of dealing with it now.

Evans-Pritchard then suggests possible solutions, admits, however, that it is not likely that they will be applied, as this would require a considerable amount of effort and courage from the governments. He concludes that Europe will eventually slither into deflation and will have a hard time escaping it again.

[200 words]

Revised Version:

Europe already has one foot in “Japanese” deflation grave:

This article, published in The Telegraph of October 23, 2013 by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, treats the problem of the European debt crisis. He presents its risks, the government policy errors and explains how close Europe is to the deflation trap.

The author emphasises that Europe is on the edge of deflation. Most countries experience a debt rise which will finally lead to deflation. Once a country, or in our case the Eurozone countries, reaches deflation it is incredibly hard for them to escape. This is proven by the example of Japan, a country struggling for years to reach and maintain a healthy inflation rate. In order to prevent deflation, however, the European governments would need to take on even more unpopular policies and therefore they prefer to remain idle. According to the author they will wait until the Eurozone crisis even hits the wealthier countries very hard instead of approaching the problem now.

Evans-Pritchard then suggests possible solutions, admits, however, that it is not likely that they will be applied, as this would require a considerable amount of effort and courage from the governments. He concludes that Europe will eventually slither into deflation and will have major difficulties escaping it again.

[200 words]

Write: a love poem … for a non traditional item or person

Well, for me the challenge is almost over...I have to admit that this is making me kind of sad.
Even though I didn't enjoy every single part of the challenge it still was fun because - as the name already says - it challenged me! ;) Simply the fact that you have to think about something that you usually don't think about very often or in much detail was cool.
So, if anybody read my posts, thanks for your attention and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Here's my last piece:

Unconditional Love

This poem goes out to a creature

that could be our teacher.

If we would only stop for a little second

before our minds are all blackened.

This creature is wise,

it sees the world through different eyes.

We'd better take a leaf out of his book,

this would give us more than just a better look.

He gives so much love, he gives so much joy,

and he's so much more than just a toy.

Whatever you do,

if you're feeling blue,

if you're so furious,

he never is incurious.

To him it's all the same

- no matter what -

you're in his hall of fame.

He does so much and expects nothing in return,

and that's what we also need to discern.

To give, without asking for something,

 of that he's the one and true king.

And that's what we need to learn,

to not always be so stern,

so let's take this turn.

Let's be less like stupid logs,

let's be more like our dogs.

Write Poetry: about your heart—not what it does or who it loves, but the odd and weird stuff it is made of

Okay, this now is a REAL challenge!

How the hell am I to write about the weird stuff my heart is made of? Even worse, how the hell am I to write PEOTRY?

Geez, this is gonna take a while...

Well, my glass of wine is next to me and maybe it will prove its generosity and give me inspiration...

To define one's heart is not an easy task,

Hearts are really funny things,

But I will try, without drinking up a wine cask,

And hopefully before my phone rings.

Mine's not only funny, it's crazy-

It changes its mind almost every day

I swear, it's not only crazy, also hazy. 

and very often I'm getting fray.

It tends to do one utterly stupid thing,

It's falling in love-

I'd say it's a real ding-a-ling-

And leaves me as a mourning dove.

It's falling in love with real men,

My stupid heart, it just won't listen,

It's doing it over and over again.

It won't let my wisdom glisten.

It gets attached, it gets involved,

Far too quickly, far too easy,

And this leads to problems, all unsolved.

And I can't do nothing - but feel queasy.

And in the end, it leaves me there,

All devastated, all despaired;

Of my pain, it won't take its share,

it leaves me alone, of all happiness bared.

Who is the world in debt to?!

Hej you!

As we are talking about debt so much in Henry's class I started to ask myself one elementary question:

"Who the hell is the world in debt to?"

In my opinion the whole debt thing is a circle and should cancel out because
if I lend 50 bucks to Veronika and
Veronika lends 50 bucks to James and
James lends 50 bucks to me
-> wouldn't that just make the whole thing unnecessary?

Apparently it is almost impossible to find an answer to that on the Internet, I've tried for almost two hours now. I don't know if I just can't handle the Internet and that's why I can't get a definite answer or if there just isn't an answer.
The only answers I got until now is that the different governments are in debt to other countries, private banks and organizations like the IWF. I always thought the whole debt thing is a circle and it should close at some point, but I couldn't find it so I'm not sure any more.

Anyway, I did find a pretty cool video in which a twelve-year old girl explains debt on the example of Canada. I liked this video a lot and found it more informative than most of the articles and comments and whatever else I read during my research.

I will definitely ask Henry this question in our next class, and if he can give me a better answer I will update this post.

Oh and by the way, here is a pretty interesting, somehow funny and absolutely disturbing link. It shows a world debt clock. When I started writing my post the current global public debt was at

US $ 052,129,026,028,783

now that I finished it it's at

US $ 052,129,710,433,771

this adds up to  US $ 684,404,988 debt increase...

in about two hours...

Well, I talked to Henry today and asked him whether he knows who the world is in debt to and he confirmed that we're in debt to each other.

The point, why my circle-theory doesn't work is...

*drumroll*

...interest!

The thing is that countries and banks and whoever is involved lend money to other countries, but they all charge different interest rates. This creates an awful lot of fictional money (as we learned ;) ) and that's why it all just doesn't work out the way it should.

Write Poetry: with “I remember sentences"

Well, as I told you before, the whole poetry thing is something completely new for me...so please don't be hard on me, I'll try my best.

I remember other times.

Happier times.

Times, when I could still enjoy life easily.

I remember how I was fascinated by every little thing...

but not any longer. 

I remember when I could get happy simply because the sun was shining...

rarely do I even notice sunshine these days.

I remember better times.

Life was easier then. 

I remember a time, when I didn't worry about so many things...

didn't have to worry about so many things.

I remember former times...

times, when it was easy to trust people.

I remember.

Do I even want to remember?

I don't think so.

But still...

I remember.

Pronunciation Diary

Hello Hello!

I have to admit that I pulled this off for a long time now, but guess what: I was watching my favourite series when I suddenly realized that the main character pronounced the word controversial in a weird way. Immediately I decided to see whether his pronunciation was wrong or whether I have always pronounced it the wrong way. Here are my findings:
I looked it up on 3 different pages and it turns out that they all pronounce it like this. In the series, however, it was pronounced controverSIAL. He really pronounced every single letter and stressed the a. I guess the actor made a mistake there.
I'm giving you this little story just to make clear what finally gave me my motivation to get this done.

Well, let's start with the pronunciation model. The question of all questions: do I choose British or American pronunciation?
Even though I have to say that I like the British accent far more I think I will stick with the American one. There are two reasons for that: Firstly, I think it's the easier one and secondly, I'm watching many American series and therefore am used to the American accent more than to the British accent.







This already brings me on to something I consider important when you want to learn proper pronunciation: have some input from natives. In my case this is watching series and movies in their original languages, which is most frequently English. This is simply the easiest way to get in touch with English in my everyday life as I  don't know any natives here in Graz - besides our teachers.

Pronunciation is so important because, as it is mentioned on antimoon.com:

"Pronunciation is definitely the biggest thing that people notice when you are speaking English."

This quote applies to us even more because we are no natives and therefore a good pronunciation is something we have to learn. It doesn't just pop in naturally as it does with our mother tongue, we have to put an effort into it. 

I did have some pronunciation-related fun when I was working in Ireland. I was helping some people with their horses who came from another part of town and did not know me at all and did not know that I was not a native. After a while they asked me where I am from because I didn't sound "Greysteel born and bred", as they put it. They reacted rather surprised when I told them that I was not even from Ireland but from Austria. Just like those, many people were surprised when I told them that I was from Austria, they seem to be expecting German speakers to speak terrible, terrible English.

The pronunciation pages are all very useful, even though I am not more than halfway through now I already realized many things. I particularly liked the link to the Warwick University webpage.

One thing I know I have to take real care of is the following: 

When I talk really quickly I often start to swallow some syllables or pronounce sounds wrong even though I actually know how to pronounce them correctly (e.g. different pronunciation of v and w). This usually only happens when I get excited and start to talk really fast and don't think about the right way of saying things any more. I do hear my mistakes, however, and correct myself as soon a make the mistake. Still, I would sound far better if I didn't make those mistakes in the first place.

Make a List of: things you should have learned by now

Wow, I'm after this post I'll be done with more of the half of my challenge! That's cool! :) So far everything is better than expected! ;)
So let's do this:

1. One does not simply go for ONE drink!
2. Having uni and a hangover is about the worst combination ever.
3. When I'm all angry and fed up with my life I need to go outside, maybe for a walk in the woods or something like that.
4. Life's better with an animal around you.
5. Every evening is what you make of it.
6. I need my family around from time to time.